Pages

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Some Fountains at Shaw's Garden

HERE ARE SOME photos of fountains at the Missouri Botanical Garden, popularly called Shaw's Garden after its founder, Henry Shaw (1800-1889). I've found that floral photos rarely turn out very well unless it is sunny, so on this mainly overcast day, I turned the lens towards a few of the garden's many fanciful fountains.

The Ottoman garden is similar to what might have been found in a sultan's garden in Constantinople. Islamic water gardens developed from the conquered Christian Byzantine empire designs, modified by its own theology.

Soon after arrival, there was an intense downpour. Large raindrops can be seen here, while I was safely under a gazebo in the Chinese garden.

Overcast days are typically terrible for taking photos. Strangely, subjects that look fine to the eye turn out poorly in the camera. But human psychology can help: when lighting is dim, the eye's sensitivity to blue light increases, while the camera has no such correction. Using the computer afterwards to boost the camera's sensitivity to blue solved the problem and rescued a number of these photos, restoring them to an approximation of what I saw that day.

Young lady, show some modesty. I don't care if you think you are a “goddess”.

This is Sunglitter, by Swedish sculptor Carl Milles. There are many Milles sculptures in Saint Louis; he typically used pagan or mythic Nordic nationalistic themes.

Detail of Three Playful Raccoons. This and the following three sculptures are by native Missourian, Robert Lee Walker.

Besides not working on this particular day, note that this fountain lacks monumental quality and permanence unlike the others shown here, and it emphasizes the least interesting part, the solar panel. My engineering and design background leads me to believe that a sun fountain could be implemented in a much more satisfactory and delightful manner. I am available for consultation.

A bamboo fountain in the Japanese garden. Ritual purity is a significant part of Japanese religion. Water is used for purification and cleansing, and so is a natural sign or symbol for the interior cleansing of the soul. This is found in Christian baptism.

Cho-on-baku; or, the Waterfall of Tidal Sound, in the Japanese garden.

Last year, I took a photo of this pleasant little landscape, but my focus was poor. Here I try again.

Notes

All links on this page are for general interest and may not contain material suitable for everyone, nor are they necessarily links to good orthodox Catholic sites.The advertising on Rome of the West may not be generally suitable since it is provided by third parties, but by all means, support this web site by visiting the advertisers if you see something good!All opinions expressed are those of the author alone, and all text and photographs are the property of the author unless otherwise stated.